It looks like President Bush is going to announce a “momentary boost” in the variety of American troops serving in Iraq. The President is adding complexity to a series of wrong choices he has actually made because the start of the intrusion. It is difficult to picture how a surge in American soldiers can repair a self-created problem?

We have actually made the very same mistake that 5 star General Douglas MacArthur alerted about with regard to Asia, “Never get associated with a land war in Asia.” Presidents Kennedy and Johnson didn’t hearken the suggestions, and the rest is history. Now once again, we have a President who has actually included us willingly (the US was never assaulted directly or indirectly by the evil Saddam Hussein) in a land war in an Arab nation where suicide bombers are as typical as a cup of coffee.

Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and the Mullah’s Iran lost a number of hundred thousand males in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980’s, and neither felt the loss. The United States freely backed Saddam Hussein throughout the war, and avoided an Iranian victory by stepping in with arms and intelligence info.

Our President on the other hand continues to get really bad suggestions from the same individuals that started this effort. Saddam Hussein was an autocrat just like all the other tyrants in that area of the world.

The history of the whole region is one of violence, instability, anarchy, and unpredictability. In that basic sentence you will understand why our President’s desire to install a democracy in Iraq can not work. Every country in the Middle East has an unsteady program ruling a society whose members have low tolerance for one another, and are naturally unpredictable. Even if our President achieved success in requiring our democratic concepts on individuals of Iraq, the entire system would of necessity fall apart in a matter of months to a year or 2, as a brand-new equilibrium would be formed among the warring factions.

This is not George Bush’s fault. He has actually merely allowed himself to be misdirected regarding the truth of the day to day circumstance in Iraq. His consultants have actually failed him miserably, and he has actually failed America in not changing his consultants quickly enough to understand what he is dealing with.

The primary goal of all American Presidents and not the Congress is to identify for our country what our interests must be. The President then should develop policy to advance our interests. It is not a coincidence that the first invasion of Iraq in 1990 occurred quickly after the fall of the Soviet Union. Our Middle East policy up till that point was to avoid Soviet penetration, and supremacy of the OIL RICH Middle East.

With the fall of the Soviet Union, our policy became to PREVENT any one nation in the area from creating hegemony over the region (the factor being OIL). In 1990, the cost was an US led coalition to eliminate Saddam as a hazard to the oil stability of the area, and that is why the very first President Bush never ever marched to Baghdad. Saddam’s elimination from Kuwait was enough to guarantee that hegemony would not be created.

Somehow the present President Bush got it into his mind Saddam still represented a danger to the stability of the region, and therefore attacked once again. As soon as that box was opened, no one can anticipate with any precision how this is going to play out.

1) We have enhanced and pushed Iran. We are not in a position to threaten Iran with invasion for continuing its nuclear program. We do not have the force structure to support our risks.
2) We have actually strengthened Syria in the exact same way as Iran.
3) We have intensified the Arab-Israeli situation by weakening our own image as a sincere 3rd party to the conflict.
4) We have destabilized Iraq as a nation, and as a working state, with no endgame in mind.
5) We have positioned our prestige on the line, and are at the most affordable level of regard in our allies’ eyes given that World War II.
6) Our position as the moral assisting force of this world remains in jeopardy.
7) We have begun a war that we do not know ways to finish.

Exactly what the President must do RIGHT NOW is acknowledge where we are at. This is why he lost the Congress in the last election. Americans are never sitting stay, or enjoy idly. We are an active country. If the President isn’t moving quick enough, the people will choose others who will?

Our current troops should be used just to train Iraqi forces, both cops and military, and not function as combatants in a country whose government we currently beat. If the President discovers it necessary to release additional troops, again these additional forces should only be used to train Iraqi forces, not to step in. This is no CIVIL WAR, with Moslem pitted versus Moslem, and sect versus sect. This is not about Catholic versus Protestant, or Jew versus Arab. This is all taking place within the context of the very same faith. It is even taking place within the same sects. Sunni is likewise killing Sunni, and Shia is killing Shia. We might never ever want to have the ability to intervene against such wanton killing.

We are after all a democracy, the beacon of light in world where there is much darkness. Our continued efforts in Iraq might damage this nation so much more that it could lead to potentially nuclear Iran developing the regional hegemony that we attempted to prevent Iraq from developing. Wouldn’t that be a sad state of affairs? We change one beast with another.

Goodbye and Good Luck

It looks like President Bush is going to announce a “short-term increase” in the number of American troops serving in Iraq. Now as soon as again, we have a President who has involved us willingly (the United States was never ever assaulted directly or indirectly by the evil Saddam Hussein) in a land war in an Arab nation where suicide bombers are as typical as a cup of coffee.

In that simple sentence you will comprehend why our President’s desire to set up a democracy in Iraq can not work. Even if our President were successful in forcing our democratic principles on the individuals of Iraq, the whole system would of necessity fall apart in a matter of months to a year or 2, as a brand-new equilibrium would be formed among the warring factions.

In 1990, the expense was an US led coalition to eliminate Saddam as a danger to the oil stability of the region, and that is why the very first President Bush never marched to Baghdad.